Tag Archives: Adafruit Feather Huzzah

For me, building the electronics for the LED Bridge Lamp was one of the most fun parts of the project. It was an opportunity to build upon the skills I learned from earlier/simpler projects and create a really fun display/art project.

Circuit Design

The first step was figuring out the details of the circuit. To do this breadboarded the circuit and worked out the details. The resistors in the circuit are to protect the first LEDs on the strip data lines and the large capacitors help smooth out the power from the power supply.

Assembly

With the design in hand, the next step was assemble the bases and solder everything. For the purposes of differentiating them in a succinct way I will refer to the base with the Adafruit Feather Huzzah Micro-controller in it as the ‘Smart’ base and I will refer to the base that only has power inject in it as the ‘Dummy’ base.

Here you can see a full assembled base complete with the 90lb strength magnets that will keep the bridge perched in place over my cubicle walls at work. (You can learn more about building this base in my earlier post here)

90lb Strength Magnets integrated into the base

For the panel mount connectors I made sure they fit into the printed holes in the side of the base. I put one of the male connectors into the panel mount connector to keep everything lined up as I soldered (the plastic in there melts easily). I also put heat shrink tubing over the connectors.

Use heat shrink tubing to protect the soldered connections. TIP: Put a mail connector in the female connector when soldering to keep the plastic from deforming.

The “Smart” Base

Next up was translating the bread-boarded circuit to a perma-proto board. I used female headers so I could remove/replace/upgrade the micro-controller in the future if wanted to.

With the panel mount connection inserted through the top curved section of the base and secured with its included nut, I soldered its wire to the permanent-proto board. I used about a foot of wire so I had plenty of space to work with when the setup is semi-assembled as shown below.

Soldering the power cable to the perm-proto board AFTER it was inserted through the bridge lamp base.

Next up I secured the permanent-proto board to the electronics tray/base. I wrapped the excess wire that around the magnet supports to provide strain relief to the soldered joints. The additional wires below are the wires that least to JST connectors which will provide a modular linking to the LED strips in the bridge.

With everything assembled it should look nice and clean and orderly as shown below:

Underside of completed ‘smart’ base

For the USB cable I drilled a whole in the side of the riser block with a brad point drill bit and inserted the USB cable. I wrapped that cable around the magnet supports to provide strain relief here as well.

Underside of completed ‘smart’ base with USB cable routed]

The completed based is just about done.

Assembled base section (close up)

I also inserted M4 Button Top machine screws to secure the top and bottom sections of the base. They self tap a bit into the plastic and hold well. They also allow me to disassemble the setup easily from the outside.

Button head machine screws used to connect top/curved have of base to the electronics tray

The “Dummy” Base

The “Dummy” base is largely the same procedure as the “Smart” base with the exception being that this side does not have a micro-controller — it simply injects power at the mid point of the LED light strips — without this it would look like the LED strips brown out about midway across the bridge. The large capacitors used in this project are to protect the LED strips and smooth out the power they receive.

Dummy base with power injection. Leave extra wire so you can remove the curved section as needed.

I followed the same methods of assembly, soldering, cable wrapping etc.

Underside of completed ‘Dummy’ base

Cabling

Between each base and the bridge assembly and between each of the 3 bridge sections I used JST connectors for power and data (See photo below). I would build each male and female section, test the connections and then solder them into place.

JST connectors and crimper

I liked the idea of everything being modular but in hindsight almost feel it was more trouble than it was worth. I found myself still having to debug a bunch of these wire connections as the JSTs seem to have a little play in the connections so if the wires are bent up — say when trying to cram those connections into the bridge superstructure sometimes the connection would open up.

When soldering my larger panavise was helpful in holding things in place so I could solder the JST connected wires to the LED strips.

Larger pane-vise was helpful in holding the assembly when I had to solder on the wires connected to the JST connectors

Shown below is a completed base with the JST connectors showing.

Assembled base section with taller riser and micro controller. Note the USB cable coming out through a drilled hole in the riser.

Testing

With everything in place it was time to test the full circuit. This is where the extra wire on the JST cabling in the base came in handy. I could lay the bridge out on my dining room table and test the circuit and work out the software. Also it was nerdy fun to be effectively sitting inside this light ring in a dark room.

Testing the bridge flat on the table

Once I got everything working it was time to pack it up and bring it to the office. Given the headaches with the JST connectors I brought the bridge section in as 1 completed piece rather than breaking it down into segments and testing all the connections again. It filled the whole bed of my pickup truck but survived the ride.

Completed bridge assembly in the back of my pickup truck ready for delivery

As an engineer I love all things that are shiny and blinky. Like many other engineers I am a cubicle dweller. I wanted to create something in my cube that would brighten up my workspace and make me smile whenever I’m working there. What follows is a series of posts that will guide you through how I designed and built my version of the LED Bridge Lamp which is based off of the LED Bridge Lamp (Universal Segment) by my friend Janis (Opossums) Jakaitis on Thingiverse here. It was a great looking project and would be the perfect addition to any cubicle in need of some blinky.

Side view of my LED Bridge Lamp running a rainbow animation.

High Level Summary of Changes:

Universal Segment Bridge Lamp with 2 horizontal (straight) sections

Custom mini light up billboard at the top of the bridge

Custom light shades with enclosed channels

Custom designed bases with integrated 90lb magnets and adjustable heights for uneven surfaces

Custom wifi enabled electronics to control the display

Custom power supply with enclosure

Each LED strip (2 in the bridge and 1 in the sign) an be controlled independently

Total Number of Pieces: 74 Total Print Time: 145 hours!

Total Time: 223 hours

NOTE: The above does not include printing another 25 segments of straight superstructure and light shades, misprints, having 8 segments of assembled PLA superstructure melt by being too close to a radiator, test prints and re-prints. I estimate that I have something around 300 hours into this project.

Build Details (This section will be updated as I publish more related posts):